Rebranding John Leslie
Sometimes I write frivolous letters to the Weekend Guardian, snappy 2 or 3 liners, punctuated by a bit of wit. This time I made serious comment on the article published the previous week which attempted to re-position the brand of John Leslie. The Grauniad may not have been the best place for Leslie to start?August 16, 2008
John Leslie may have been tried by the media, and informed by a judge that he has not a stain on his character, but he would still benefit from someone giving him some basic information about why women don't report rape/sexual assault. He could then move on to gaining some insights into the way that someone with his public profile would present as a powerful figure, one whom women would be even less likely to report, maybe until they found the strength in numbers that enabled them to be less cowed by that status. 
Perhaps Leslie would then be ready to address his prehistoric attitude to domestic violence, because although he can be confident he has never physically assaulted a woman, he may discover that when he "...disrespected women" or was not "proper with women" that those women could easily have felt just as coerced or intimidated as if he had struck them. Understanding how behaviours other than physical can be abusive would make those eggshells a lot easier underfoot.
Perhaps Leslie would then be ready to address his prehistoric attitude to domestic violence, because although he can be confident he has never physically assaulted a woman, he may discover that when he "...disrespected women" or was not "proper with women" that those women could easily have felt just as coerced or intimidated as if he had struck them. Understanding how behaviours other than physical can be abusive would make those eggshells a lot easier underfoot.*Helen Taylor
Sapcote, Leicestershire
*This is a psuedonymn designed to avoid bringing the department into disrepute.
posted by Helen Sparkles at 6:27 PM
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